Maratus karrie Waldock 2013

Jürgen C. Otto & David E. Hill, 2014, Spiders of the mungaich group from Western Australia (Araneae: Salticidae: Euophryinae: Maratus), with one new species from Cape Arid, Peckhamia 112 (1), pp. 1-35 : 11

Maratus karrie Waldock 2013

This smaller species ( Figure 1 ) is reported from the southwestern corner of Australia. We have examined specimens collected by Darlington in 1931 from Margaret River ( Figure 12 :2, locality 1) and Pemberton (locality 2). The pattern of scales on the dorsal opisthosomal plate (fan) is similar to that of M. sarahae , but the spider is smaller ( Waldock 2013). We have given this spider the common name of Darlington's Peacock Spider ( Hill & Otto 2011). Many of its features are intermediate between those of M. mungaich and M. sarahae ( Table 1, Figure 14 ), but perhaps more like the latter. We have previously considered this variety to be conspecific with M. sarahae ( Otto & Hill 2011b, 2012b). The distinctive pattern of the fan, including the wide bands of iridescent scales, appears to place these specimens with M. sarahae , but some of the characters related to setation are more like those of M. mungaich . See Waldock's (2013) description of M. karrie for more details.

Figures

Figure 1. Photographs (1-3) and approximate drawings (4-6) of the extended male opisthosomal fan of species in the mungaich group of the genus Maratus. Photographs show fans of living spiders. Drawings are based on descriptions (Waldock 2013) or, in the case of M. karrie, on specimens collected by Darlington that we examined. Waldock described the iridescent scales of these spiders (blue in drawings 4-6) as 'bright blue to rose-gold' under halogen lights, and did not distinguish the appearance of living animals from specimens under alcohol. Our examination of the scales of M. karrie (Figure 14; Hill & Otto 2011), as well as photographs of the M. caeruleus holotype, suggest that the colour of the iridescent background in these drawings is similar to that shown in the photographs. Each scale bar = 1.0 mm. Scale bars associated with each photograph are based on our records. Scale bars associated with each drawing are based on the length of each respective spider in Waldock's (2013) text description and generally do not agree with the scale bars in her figures.

Figure 12. Localities where spiders of the mungaich group have been reported, all in Western Australia. 1, Radar topography map of Australia, based on data collected by the NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. 2, Area of interest in the southern part of Western Australia, corresponding to the inset rectangle in (1). Numbers (encircled) correspond to spiders that we have examined, and are described under each of our species accounts. Outlined distributions are based on localities described by Waldock (2013). To date, all species described in this group have an allopatric distribution. Collection from more sites within this area should contribute to our understanding of relationships between the isolated populations represented by these species.

Figure 14. Two male Maratus karrie (1-2, 3-4) collected by P. J. Darlington in 1931. Enumerated characters are listed in Table 1. To reveal the colours of their setae, both specimens were air-dried for a brief period of time, then quickly returned to an ethanol solution for preservation. Pigments such as those associated with red scales do not survive a long period of immersion in alcohol. Photos by D. E. Hill, released under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.